


Sweet Surprise

by WildWolf25



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (Keith makes a brief appearance via phone), Baking, Birthday, Humor, Hunk loves him anyway, M/M, Shiro phoned a friend and it did not go well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 08:33:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13923339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildWolf25/pseuds/WildWolf25
Summary: Shiro forgot that baking did not ascribe to the laws of science and logic.Hunk claimed that it did, but Shiro knew better.  Baking was an art akin to magic, and if you didn’t add exactly the right amount of the right ingredients, it just flat-out didn’t work.  It wasn’t like cooking, where you could swap out ingredients if you didn’t like something or didn’t have it on hand, and the dish might taste a little different but it would ultimately still be edible.  Baking, though… baking required a deal with the devil to accomplish.  And Shiro, it seemed, had gone for a high-five when the devil went in for a hand-shake.“It did not work.”  Shiro said into the phone, looking down at the abomination in front of him.





	Sweet Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JamtheDingus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamtheDingus/gifts).



> (Originally posted on [tumblr](https://gold-leeaf.tumblr.com/post/171341729085/sweet-surprise))
> 
> Happy birthday [JamtheDingus](http://archiveofourown.org/users/JamtheDingus/profile#_=_)! This AO3 upload is SUPER belated, but at least I got the tumblr one up closer to your birthday... May you have another year full of lovely Hunk and shunk content!

It was no secret that Hunk was a genius in the kitchen. He and Shiro worked slightly different hours, so even though Shiro had to wake up alone in a cold bed most mornings, it was made up by the fact that when he got home in the evenings, Hunk was usually there to greet him with a kiss and dinner almost ready.  Shiro sometimes took it for granted that Hunk was the one to cook for both of them. Anytime he brought it up, though, Hunk just chuckled and said he enjoyed it, and it was easier to cook for two than to just halve the recipe on his own, and he liked seeing Shiro enjoy his food. So he let it be. 

But the one thing that Shiro would absolutely not tolerate was Hunk baking his own birthday cake.  That was just… birthday-sacrilege. It had to be a surprise, and something the person would like, and lovingly made or thoughtfully purchased by someone who cared about them.  That was just the birthday way. So Shiro told him months in advance that he wasn’t allowed to bake his own birthday cake. Hunk had pouted but ultimately let him, swayed by kisses and promises that the kitchen would remain intact.  He told Shiro there was really no shame in just buying a cake at the store, and Shiro had hummed noncommittally but inside he knew that Hunk deserved better than a store-bought cake. Nothing would come close to the level of experience and love that Hunk put into his cooking and baking, but Shiro would be damned if he didn’t try his best.  

He decided to be sneaky about it.  It was a surprise, after all. A couple months before Hunk’s birthday -- so as to throw him off the trail -- he tilted his laptop so Hunk couldn’t see the screen and played around on some dumb online quizzes and random generators, sharing the answers with Hunk as he cooked dinner.  The results were amusing, but not what Shiro was looking for. 

“This one looks funny.”  Shiro said, opening up a word document.  “You put in your name and a random generator tells you what your favorite dessert is.”

Hunk chuckled as he slid some chopped vegetables into a pot on the stove.  “What did you get?” He asked.

Shiro typed his own name into the word doc, just to really make it seem like he was putting his name into a website.  He waited three seconds, then spoke up. “Strawberry cheesecake.”

Hunk laughed.  “Weirdly accurate, what a coincidence.  You do like cheesecake.”

“Want to find out yours?”  Shiro asked.

“Sure, why not?”  Hunk said. 

Shiro typed Hunk’s name on his keyboard, then waited another three seconds.  “Chocolate cake.” 

“Hmm, not as close that time.”  Hunk said.

“What would you say, then?”  Shiro asked, looking up. 

“Hmm…” Hunk considered the question while he stirred the pot on the stove.  “Cakes are good, but I’d say my top favorite is actually pumpkin pie. Nice and rich, and it tastes nostalgic, you know?”  

“Yeah, pumpkin pie is good.”  Shiro subtly typed that into his word document and saved it for later reference.  Then he switched back to the random quizzes, just to keep him off the trail. “Want to find out what kind of cat you’d be?”  

~~~

Two months, several hours combing the internet for recipes, and four trips to three different grocery stores later, Shiro finally had everything he needed to make pumpkin pie.  He had conspired with Allura to get Hunk out of the house for the day, as she was the only one of their friends who could be trusted to not spill the beans on this secret endeavor (Pidge would probably drop hints that Hunk was too smart not to notice, and Lance would probably just tell him since they were best friends).  As soon as Hunk was out of the house, Shiro got to work. He double and triple checked his work as he went, following the recipe fastidiously. He was  _ not  _ going to have a repeat of the Burnt Cookie Incident™  that had ended with Lance joking that they could use the “cookies” as hockey pucks.  

Finally, with flour streaked in his hair, pumpkin smudged on his cheek, and a new band-aid on his thumb, Shiro was putting the pie into the oven to bake.  He closed the door and straightened up, rubbing the back of his forearm across his brow. So far, so good. He bet he could get through this baking expedition with no casualties, for once.  Now to just let it bake, and keep an eye on it while he cleaned up the kitchen, and…

Shiro froze, his eyes locking on a measuring cup full of granulated sugar.  Oh no. That was supposed to be in the pie. “...Quiznak.” He looked between the sugar and the pie through the oven door, weighing his options.  Then he decided to call for back-up. 

“Keith,” Shiro said into his phone, crouching down to look at the pie in the oven.  “I’m trying to make a pumpkin pie for Hunk’s birthday, and I just put it in the oven but I realized I forgot the sugar.  What do you think I should do?” 

“Why are you asking me?”  Keith sounded confused rather than hostile.  “I don’t bake either.”

“Because Allura is out distracting Hunk, Pidge is at work, and Lance would just laugh at me.”  Shiro said. “We don’t have a lot of time.” 

“Alright, let me think.”  Keith said. “Can you just mix the sugar into the pie?”

“I’m afraid it would tear the pie crust underneath…” Shiro said slowly, considering it.  He only had one pie crust.

“Well, sugar melts when it cooks, right?”  Keith said. “So just put it on top, and it’ll melt and seep into the rest of the pie.”  

Shiro thought about it.  “Worth a shot.” He opened the oven door and wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder to maneuver the tray halfway out.  He sprinkled the sugar from the measuring cup over the liquid surface of the pie, making sure to coat it evenly. “Alright, hopefully that works.”  He said, closing up the oven again. 

“The science makes sense.”  Keith said. “Let me know how he likes it.”

“Will do,” Shiro said.  They hung up, and he set about cleaning up the kitchen and washing the dishes.

~~~

Shiro forgot that baking did not ascribe to the laws of science and logic.  

Hunk  _ claimed  _ that it did, but Shiro knew better.  Baking was an art akin to magic, and if you didn’t add  _ exactly  _ the right amount of the right ingredients, it just flat-out didn’t work.  It wasn’t like cooking, where you could swap out ingredients if you didn’t like something or didn’t have it on hand, and the dish might taste a little different but it would ultimately still be edible.  Baking, though… baking required a deal with the devil to accomplish. And Shiro, it seemed, had gone for a high-five when the devil went in for a hand-shake. 

“It did not work.”  Shiro said into the phone, looking down at the abomination in front of him.  The crust was a little dark, but the real problem was that there was a hard, thick slab of caramelization covering the entire surface of the pie.  The sugar had not melted into the liquid, it had just hardened on top of it. 

“I don’t know why.”  Keith said. “Witchcraft, probably.”

“Probably.”  Shiro sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.  “What am I going to do?” 

“Run out and buy him a cake at the grocery store?”  Keith suggested. 

“There’s no time.”  Shiro whined. “He’s coming home in about ten minutes, and Allura has already stalled him as long as she can.”  

“Say it’s made with love and hope for the best?”  Keith suggested. 

“You’re no help at all.”  Shiro groused. Keith snorted.  Shiro looked up and saw the car pulling into the driveway.  “Crap, he’s home. Made with love it is.” He said. Keith wished him luck before hanging up the phone.  He grabbed a yellow birthday candle and put it in the center of the pie, or tried to. The candle didn’t even make a dent, so he stabbed a knife into the center of the hardened sugar -- oh god, it was still squishy underneath -- and stood the candle upright in the hole.  Like a stick poked through a hole drilled in the ice of a frozen lake.

Well, there had to be worse things to receive on one’s birthday, but Shiro couldn’t think of any.  

“Hey, babe,” Hunk called out from the front door.  “Ooh, smells sweet in here. Did you make something?”  

“Well, I tried to.”  Shiro picked up the warm pie pan with oven mitts, turning around just as Hunk entered the kitchen.  “Happy birthday? It’s… made with love.” 

“Oh my…” Hunk blinked, keeping his smile on but with obvious confusion.  “It’s a lovely… what kind of pie is that?”

“Pumpkin.”  Shiro said. 

“Pumpkin…” Hunk tapped the top of the hardened sugar.  “Pumpkin creme brulee?” 

“Sure.”  Yeah, that’s totally what he was going for.

“Well, I can’t wait to try it, pumpkin,” Hunk kissed his cheek.  “Thank you for the wonderful birthday pie.” 

“You don’t have to eat it.”  Shiro said. “I can take you out to dinner instead.”

“No, no, I’m going to at least try it.”  Hunk said, taking out a pie server. Shiro set the pan down on a potholder and Hunk tried to slice into the pie.  It didn’t work. He put a bit more pressure on the pie server, then a little more… 

The surface of the pie fractured into several large pieces as the edge of the pie server broke through the caramelized shell on top of it.  Shiro covered his eyes with his hand. “You really don’t have to--”

“I’m sure it’s fine…” Hunk assured him, scooping up a bit of pie on the server and licking it off.  “Mm, it’s very…  _ very  _ pumpkin-y.”  

Shiro worked his finger past one of the jagged pieces of hardened sugar sticking up out of it, scooping a bit of the soft pie up on his finger.  He made a face as soon as it hit his tongue; it tasted like raw canned pumpkin and too much cinnamon. Absolutely none of the sugar had melted into it.  Science lied. “This is disgusting.” He said flatly. 

“But you tried and that’s all that matters.”  Hunk patted his cheeks before drawing him in for a hug.  

“I’ll take you somewhere nice for dinner.”  Shiro promised, hugging him back. “Happy birthday, Hunk.”

“Thank you, pumpkin,” Hunk chuckled.  “To be fair, nothing could be as sweet as you.”  

Shiro just arched an eyebrow and held up a slab of pure, blackened, caramelized sugar, making Hunk laugh.          

**Author's Note:**

> Hunk: "babe what r u doing"  
> Shiro, picking out shards of hardened sugar with tears in his eyes: "my best"
> 
> ~~this is TOTALLY NOT based on a real life incident that forever changed the way I view pumpkin pie~~


End file.
